I purchased Recuva-Pro in 2019. Have License code and I’m sure about the name when I purchased. As I had HDD problem, I reinstalled Windows and Recuva (the latest version), then clicked /options/about/upgrade to pro/. Entered license code and my name. But, I got the error 0x194 “Oops, Something went wrong…”. How can I recover from this situation?
BTW, It is a lifetime license, sold in yr.2019 only, by Piriform.
Firstly to say that the Free version of Recuva is exactly the same as the Pro version - Unless you use virtual drives that is.
If you don’t want to recover from virtual drives then there is no difference at all between the Free and Pro versions.
I think I can work out what has probably/ possibly happened here and it’s because of the version update when you reinstalled Recuva.
Older licences from before the yearly subscription model was introduced were valid for the life of that version (not your lifetime but the lifetime of the software version).
Recuva did not have a full version update between 2016 (v1.53)* and 2024 (v1.54) so an older type licence for v1.53 bought in 2019 would have remained valid until you updated to v1.54.
So when you installed v1.54 your old licence is no longer valid for the new version.
*(Just for completeness there were some minor updates between 2022 and 2024, but it was still v1.53, see: https://community.ccleaner.com/search?q=Recuva%20%23announcements%20order%3Alatest_topic ).
See the last paragraphs of this official support page, it talks about CCleaner but it’s the same for all Piriform software licences:
To quote from it:
Legacy License Keys (Pre 2018)*
Older non-subscription licenses purchased prior to 2018 and with a maintenance agreement that ended prior to 2019 are no longer supported and do not have access to any of the CCleaner Professional features that were released after the maintenance agreement expired, such as Software Updater, Health Check, Driver Updater or Performance Optimizer. Most customers with such licenses have upgraded to a subscription license or are using the free version of CCleaner instead.
To avoid sending unwanted license status notifications to customers, such legacy licenses that do not appear to have been used for a long time may also be deactivated. If you have such a license we recommend upgrading to a subscription.
Previously, if you wished to continue to use a legacy license that had been deactivated (albeit with limited functionality) you could use the Contact Form to contact us and have it restored until our old licensing system reached official End of Life. Note that as of March 2023, this End-of-Life process has now begun and we are no longer able to reactivate these licenses.
- Prior to 2018, CCleaner Professional licenses were sold on a “by version” basis, including 12 months of product upgrades and support. Although ongoing use and updates past this point are permitted for home-use customers for access to the latest cleaning definitions, business users and customer wishing to gain access to any newer product features added after 2018 needed to extend their CCleaner license or upgrade to a new one. Please note that CCleaner Professional has never been marketed as having a “lifetime”, “permanent” or “perpetual” license of any sort. If you see any online reseller fraudulently advertising a CCleaner license as being “lifetime” please use the Contact Form to report it.
I note that you say you bought yours in 2019, but it’s just possible that for Recuva it was still at that time an old type licence and not a subscription licence.
If you believe otherwise then you can use the ‘Contact Form’ link in the quote to contact support and ask about the licence key that you have.
NOTE that after filling in the form you must engage with the Live Chat, if you don’t engage then you will not get any reply/
If the chatbot is not able to help then ask it for a human Support Agent.
TBH I would just stick with the Free version of Recuva, as I said above apart from virtual drives it is exactly the same as the Pro version.
OK, I will use the free version. That is nice.
However, even the ref’ed document says ‘CCleaner Professional has never been marketed as having a “lifetime”, “permanent” or “perpetual” license‘, the receipt that I have clearly describes “The price for lifetime license was $19.95 in 2019 only, by Piriform. No lifetime license after that.“ So, your referenced document is wrong. I purchased, ACTUALLY, lifetime license.
I now close this thread. Thanks anyway.
It comes down to the semantics of just what is meant by “Lifetime”, and some would say it’s a bit of a con by marketing departments.
It’s also been in use well before computers and computer software were about, when home appliances were sold with a “Lifetime” guarantee
What the marketing people / advertisers mean by “Lifetime” is the lifetime of the product, typically 1, 5, or 10 years.
However often what the consumer thinks that it means is for the rest of their lives, and in reality that is not what it means at all.
From the Google AI:
